AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- The Detroit Pistons are starting to show their potential with Allen Iverson, beating two of the NBA's best teams in less than a week.

Iverson scored 23 points, and Rasheed Wallace had 10 of his 21 points during a fourth-quarter surge that gave Detroit a 96-89 victory over Cleveland on Wednesday night that ended the Cavaliers' eight-game winning streak.

Detroit handed the Los Angeles Lakers their only defeat, beating them by double digits Friday night on the road.

"It's early, but it's exciting," Iverson said.

Wallace wouldn't go that far.

"It's not like we set out and said, 'Oh, these are the NBA's hottest teams.' We're just trying to make ourselves better," said Wallace, who had a season-high 15 rebounds. "We really don't care about what the other teams are doing at that moment.

"We just want to make ourselves better for June."

If the Pistons can keep playing tough defense against stars, as they did against LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, they'll improve their chances in the playoffs.

James was 8-of-21 and missed all four of his 3-point attempts, but made enough free throws to finish with 25 points to fall just five below his league-leading average.

"That happens in this league," he said. "You have good games and bad games."

Bryant missed 18-of-30 shots last week against the Pistons. The Cavs are a half-game ahead of the Pistons in the Central Division.

Detroit lost its first two games after acquiring Iverson from Denver on Nov. 3, but has won four of its last five.

"It's way too early to know anything about them," James said.

It looked as if the Cavs were going to beat Detroit the first time they saw them with Iverson, going on a 21-6 run to take the lead in the first quarter and taking 13-point leads in both the second and third.

But Wallace gave the Pistons the lead for good midway through the fourth with a pair of 3-pointers in a 36-second span and made another long jumper to give them a 95-82 lead with 2 1/2 minutes left.

"Sheed hit those long 3s and AI did a great job of getting to the hole," James said. "They really turned it up in the second half, and it caught us off guard."

His coach agreed.

"They played a great second half and we didn't respond," Cavs coach Mike Brown said. "It was like a bunch of their players got together at halftime and said 'Let's bear down and take this game away from the Cavaliers,' and that's just what they did. They brought us to a complete standstill.

"That's the first time I've seen us that discombobulated all year."

• Raptors 101, Heat 95: At Miami, Andrea Bargnani scored a season-high 25 points, Jermaine O'Neal added 16 points and 17 rebounds, and Toronto overcame a huge night by Dwyane Wade.

Anthony Parker scored 19 points, and Chris Bosh added 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Raptors, who blew a 17-point, late-third-quarter lead but ultimately scrambled to beat Miami for the second time in four days.

Wade had season highs of 40 points and 11 assists for Miami, his fifth time scoring 30 or better in his last nine outings.

• Timberwolves 102, 76ers 96: At Minneapolis, Al Jefferson scored six of his 25 points in the final 3 1/2 minutes to help Minnesota snap an eight-game losing streak. Craig Smith scored a season-high 21 points and matched a career best with five assists, and Mike Miller had 10 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Wolves.

• Mavericks 96, Rockets 86: At Houston, Jason Terry scored 31 points, and Dirk Nowitzki added 24 points and 12 rebounds for Dallas. Josh Howard, the Mavs' second-leading scorer, was inactive because of a left ankle injury, while Yao Ming, Houston's top scorer, sat out because of a sore left foot.

Jason Kidd had eight points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Mavs, who've won three in a row and 11 of the last 14 meetings with their in-state division rivals. Tracy McGrady scored 16 points for the Rockets.

• Nuggets 91, Spurs 81: At San Antonio, Chauncey Billups scored 22 points, and Carmelo Anthony added 21 in Denver's victory over the injury-riddled Spurs.

Kenyon Martin added 18 points and Nene had 16 for Denver, 8-4 overall and 5-1 since Billups joined the lineup following the trade that sent Allen Iverson to Detroit.

• Kings 105, Hornets 96: At New Orleans, John Salmons scored 29 points and Bobby Jackson had all eight of his points in the final 5:10 for Sacramento. Sacramento played without leading scorer Kevin Martin, who missed his sixth consecutive game because of a sprained ankle, and starting forward Mikki Moore.

• Clippers 108, Thunder 88: At Oklahoma City, Cuttino Mobley scored 12 of his season-high 23 points for Los Angeles during a 23-4 third-quarter run.

Mobley added a career-high seven steals, and Chris Kaman scored a season-high 25 points and added 14 rebounds for Los Angeles (2-9). Kevin Durant had 18 points for the Thunder (1-11).

• Hawks 91, Wizards 87: At Atlanta, Marvin Williams hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 26 seconds left to help Atlanta snap a four-game losing streak. Willams had 21 points and matched his career high with 14 rebounds.

, while Mike Bibby led the Hawks with 25 points. Caron Butler had 32 points for Washington.